MENDOTA – The Mendota Lady Trojans got the wake-up call much too late. When the bell rang in the fourth quarter, the hill was too steep to climb.
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Mendota’s Abby Phalen gets a look at the basket while Hall’s Janessa Hart applies tight defense on Feb. 7 at the MHS gym. (Reporter photo)
MENDOTA – The Mendota Lady Trojans got the wake-up call much too late. When the bell rang in the fourth quarter, the hill was too steep to climb.
The Lady Trojans couldn’t find their way through three quarters, and when they finally did in the fourth, their furious comeback bid came up short in a 34-28 loss to Hall in the semifinals of the Mendota Class 2A Regional on Feb. 7 at the MHS gym.
Mendota closed out the season with a 15-12 record.
It was an uncharacteristic beginning for the Lady Trojans when they scored just two points in the first period – that coming from Alex Barrera with just five seconds left in the frame. By that time, top-seeded Hall had put 11 points on the board.
But even more unexpected out of Mendota was that its play of the first quarter continued up until the start of the fourth stanza. The Lady Trojans scored just six points in the second and trailed 20-8 at the half, and tallied six more in the third to find themselves staring up at a 29-14 deficit with just eight minutes left to play.
Hall’s Gabby Englehaupt scored the first basket of the fourth quarter to equal her team’s biggest lead of the game (17), and it seemed as though the Lady Devils had the game well in hand. But 11 seconds later, the alarm went off for the Lady Trojans, and they finally got down to business.
Mendota’s Larkin O’Donnell dropped in a three-point bomb at the 6:39 mark that started what would become a 14-0 scoring run for the Lady Trojans that stretched nearly four and a half minutes. Amellia Bromenschenkel and Barrera each split a pair of free throws, followed by a Barrera bucket in the lane and a Phalen Hessenberger put-back. Abby Phalen added a pair of free tosses, and then with 2:16 left, O’Donnell connected on another three-ball, and what seemed improbable for Mendota minutes earlier was a real possibility – pulling out an amazing comeback victory.
But O’Donnell’s three-pointer proved to be the final points of the game for Mendota. Neither team scored again until Hall’s Madi Soldati converted three free throws in the final 12 seconds.
Bromenschenkel’s nine points paced Mendota’s offense, while Barrera added seven.
